The sinamay is one of the most commonly used fabric in headdresses, it is a totally natural basic fabric whose origin is in a plant called Manila Hemp. The sinamay is formed by natural threads that are woven, sometimes by hand and sometimes by machine, to form the sinamay fabric.

The sinamay is a fabric that can be easily shaped by applying stiffener as well as dyeing easily with water dyes, as long as it is dyed before shaping, or by spray after shaping. There are several types of sinamay depending on the dots per inch you have and also the combination of fabrics that is made such as, for example, the polyhemp that is a mixture of sinamay with silk and polyester so that the sinamay fabric does not wrinkle. The normal sinamay is a more hardened fabric than the sinamay and silk, this one having a finer finish. To use the polyhemp we recommend that once you cut the piece you want to mold you do a hem or border so that it does not fall apart using a thread to the tone or transparent thread.

The Manila Hemp plant from which the sinamay originates, has its origin in the Philippines and is cultivated in this country in 95% of the total but also in some South American country like Ecuador. The sinamay should not be confused with other fabrics such as jinsin whose fibers are thicker.